A rich quality life on a small budget.

Creating a Spiritual Center in your own home.

I love God, love Jesus, love Yogananda, don’t know much about Buddha, but he’s great too. I love the spiritual world. I also love the community and people overall. Unfortunately, I can only take a group for so long before I start to get turned off. I am one of those people that doesn’t fit into any sort of group, never have, but I mix well with ALL sorts of people. I just can’t find my tribe, I fit with so many tribes. I am expanded and open to so many things.

I enjoy the big churches with the bands and Jesus painted on the wall, I love the Center for Spiritual Awareness with all the religious symbols on the wall and flags that say I Am Love, I Am Peace. I love the old Catholic churches built centuries ago with the table filled with candles. You get the point. I love anything to do with connecting to God, being with Christ, studying the great teachers. I love learning to feel better, be happier, manifest amazing things in my life connect to the Great Spirit.

However, I can only take so much of the big churches and all their praising and talk of sinning and end of times. It truly gets on my last nerve. It doesn’t motive or inspire, it is a bummer. Then there is the Center for Spiritual Awareness and for all their openness and love, they are not always so fabulous, friendly, or lovely…they are human. With all communities, you are dealing with humans and anytime you get many of them in a huddle there are bound to be issues. I just don’t have the energy for that right now. My children are as drama as I can get these days. I also can’t be too airy fairy…or too hardcore religious with a list of rules. I have a bumper sticker on my car that sums it up “God wants spiritual fruits, not religious nuts”.

These places are so great for the like-minded community and great for families, but it’s hard to get into it when you have little children. I can’t meet women for bible study or take classes at this time. So, I stopped going to the Christian churches and the Centers for now while my children are little. I sleep in on Sundays and have created my own Center and church in my very own home. I can assure you that I am thriving beyond what I would get from an hour and a half on one day a week. I don’t have to rush the family through Sunday pancakes to dress and load up in the car, then go to a church where we really don’t get to know anyone with the limited time, then come home and feel either good or bad depending on what was offered that day. I have complete control over my spiritual program and I practice it almost every day.

I am a firm believer in living a wholesome life. That means not drinking to excess or doing drugs (I know, so boring), staying faithful in mind and body to who you are with, doing what’s right even when no one is looking, following a spiritual practice, having faith in all that is good, having a relationship with God (or Spirit if that is more comfortable), and doing good deeds. There is also taking care of yourself and your family with clean, nutritious food, and plenty of outdoor activity. Let’s not forget the balance of working diligently, playing often, and staying positive.

Long list? Yes, but it is how you get a swell life that you love waking up to daily and go to bed at night with a sigh of contentment. There is even a longer list, but I’ll try and keep it to the spiritual practice.

Creating your own “Church”:

There is so much good stuff out there. Find what speaks to you and enjoy it as much as you want. There is no right way and you don’t have to just stick to one format. There are plenty of Christian Buddhas out there.

I enjoy Joyce Meyers and/or Joel Osteen almost daily. I love having my morning coffee and watching one of them.

I also take time to read Yogananda, Joyce (she has a lot of books and CD’s on healing the mind and spirit, connecting with God), or the Bible itself. I have metaphysical books I read when in the mood for that and Christian based books for those other days.

Take a walk in nature and do a “walking meditation”. Or go sit somewhere peaceful and meditate.

Create a room or space just for studying, reading, meditating, and/or yoga.

You can access the teachings of Abraham by Esther Hicks on Youtube and watch it all day as you clean and cook.

You can access other teachers along with Joyce and Joel on their websites and listen to them throughout the day as you do the chores.

The library is filled with all kinds of spiritual books and CDs. I like to order inexpensive used books from Amazon because I love my spiritual books. I dog ear the pages, use highlighters and tags. I refer to them often. Build a library.

Making rituals:

Make morning rituals with a time to meditate, do yoga, watch church on TV, or a program on the laptop.

Make time to watch movies that are Christian based or teaching Spiritual matters. The Secret is a fun one to get you started on manifesting. Peaceful Warrior is a great movie that teaches us the importance of healing, right living, and a quiet mind. Watch documentaries on Netflix.

Order books. Make time each day to read just a little and take the rest of the day to ponder and mull over.

Make time each day to exercise. Believe it or not, it effects your mind and spirit.

Finding heaven on earth:

When we follow our own spiritual program with real passion it gives us dramatic results. This combined with overcoming bad habits or addictions can change your life in such huge and amazing ways. You may not be able to attend a Church or meeting at this time in your life for many reasons. You may feel like isolating. Create the healing and spiritual space within your home. Being loving and nurturing to yourself and watch you bloom.